‘American Idol’ Exec Says Votes Aren’t Rigged
Entertainment Weekly quizzed ‘American Idol’ execs on recently criticism that voting on the show may be victim to tampering following the recent almost ouster of Justin Guarini a few weeks ago. Michael Eaton says penetrate the show’s vote-tallying system — which is monitored by London-based Telescope, creator of high-volume phone-vote lines for companies like Evian and Pepsi. “Nobody can get in there and change the votes,” says Eaton. He does admit though that unlike game shows, “There’s nobody from the government side regulating the vote.” Read more.
Christina Christian Gets Record Deal
August 11, 2002 – The Gainesville Sun spoke with ousted ‘American Idol’ contestant Christina Christian who laughed off rumors about her being stressed out and show producers hiding her death. “I’m fine. I’m getting better and getting lots of rest,” Christian said. “I wasn’t stressed out. I just had a bad headache and was really weak. I couldn’t even walk by myself.” Fans wanting to hear from her in the future won’t have to wait long, as Christina says she’s already signed with a record company and will have a CD released possibly by January.
Ryan Starr Most Searched For Female ‘American Idol’
August 11, 2002 – While search interest in the guys of ‘American Idol’ has largely matched telephone voting, the same doesn’t seem to be the case for the women. Ryan Starr tops the list of searches for the finalists in the month of July on pay-per search engine Overture.com with 9,962 queries, though she didn’t get the same support by phone, having already been voted off. The second most popular finalist was Kelly Clarkson with 7,828 searches, followed by Christina Christian (2,446), Tamyra Gray (2,178), and Nikki McKibbin (1,890).
Justin Guarini Dominates Male ‘American Idol’ Searches
August 11, 2002 – July search queries on pay-per search engine Overture.com for the male ‘American Idol’ finalists give a rough estimation of how things are progressing on the show. The two most searched for finalists are the two still on the show, Justin Guarini and RJ Helton, though Justin with 11,881 queries is getting much more searches than RJ at 2,256. The least searched for contestant of the bunch was EJay Day with 397 queries – the first finalist voted out.
Doc’s Told Christina Christian She Had No Color
August 9, 2002 – Entertainment Tonight has yet more details on the hospital scare that caused Christina Christian to miss Wednesday night’s episode of ‘American Idol’. Christian told Star 98.7-FM at the airport before flying home Thursday, “They were trying to get an IV in me because basically I had no color. The doctor was saying that I was really dehydrated and my blood pressure was way too low.” Fellow ousted Idol Ryan Starr commented, “I think the stress was too much for her. I guess she lost quite a bit of weight and she was getting sick.”
